Flora and Fauna of Cyprus

Cyprus

Thalassoma pavo

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English common name: Peacock wrasse

It is a fish that lives in the shallow waters of our island (it is usually found in a depth of 20 meters).
Its length is about 20 cm. It lives in rocky areas and it can be caught in relatively small quantities from fishing
boats with nets. At a young age the peacock wrasse has vertical multicoloured stripes. In the first stages
of their maturity the peacock wrasses are all female and preserve their "fledgling" colours (brown-green with lighter vertical bands).
When they grow up they change sex and become male, changing at the same time their colour into a green
colour bearing an almost vertical multicoloured (blue/red) stripe, at the front part of the body.
It mostly lives on ostracoderms and molluscs.

Source: Department of Postal Services, Republic of Cyprus.

Francolinus francolinus

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Common Francolin or Black Partridge

It belongs to the Phasianidae family and it is a non-migrant bird of Cyprus.
It is found in Paphos, as well as in the Karpass peninsula, but mostly in the region of Saint Andrews Cape.
It is also found, although rarely, in the Fassouri and Episkopi regions.
It builds its nest in very dense bushes and bears ten to eighteen white eggs.
It is a very beautiful bird and our island has the privilege of being the only place in Europe where this is found
even in a small number. It once existed in the whole of south Europe, but it vanished many years ago.
Even in very old times the Cypriots knew the Francolin and they used to picture it even on the mosaics of Curium. Many proverbs and fairy tales referring to the Francolin are still found today, dated from the Middle Ages: they are the mere creation of the Cyprus people; the folkloric muse still mentions it as the "aftoginara the multicoloured".

Source: Department of Postal Services, Republic of Cyprus.

Cedrus brevifolia

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The cedar of Cyprus (Cedrus brevifolia)

The cedar (Cedrus brevifolia) is a self-planted tree, met only in Cyprus. It belongs to the conifers and prospers on an altimeter of 150 meters to 1500 meters.
In Cyprus it is found in the Paphos forest together with other self planted forest species of the region, such as the pine tree, the plane tree, the golden oak and the strawberry tree.
Today the most dense Cyprus cedar forest is found in the homonymous valley of the Paphos forest, in the south of Tripylos, in the area that lies between the Kykko Monastery and the forest station of the Stavros tis Psokas (Cross of Psoka). The cedar has a straight trunk reaching a height of 25 meters.
It is a slow-growing species, with thin bark and dark green foliage; its branches grow symmetrically on the trunk in a horizontal order, Its cones have a cylindrical shape and have a length of about 7cm and a width of 4 cm.
They have a false stalk and grow vertically on the branches.
In Cyprus there are about 130,000 big and small cedar trees, altogether giving an atmosphere of unique beauty.

Source: Department of Postal Services, Republic of Cyprus.

Equus mulus

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The mule

The mule is the offspring of an ass and a mare. The scientific name of this animal is "Equus mulus". After 1950 the number of the mares used for reproduction de